Juvenile courts sometimes hold youth in secure detention facilities during court processing of their case. Depending on the State's detention laws, the court may decide detention is necessary to ensure the juvenile's appearance at subsequent court hearings, to protect the community from the juvenile, or to secure the juvenile's own safety. Detention may also be ordered for the purpose of evaluating the juvenile.

The likelihood of detention for juveniles charged with drug offense cases peaked in 1989 but varied more than other offenses between 1985 and 2012. In 1989, juveniles were detained in 34% of drug cases; by 2012, it had decreased to 14%.

The likelihood of detention for juveniles was lower in 2012 than in 1985 for public order offense cases and about the same for person and property offense cases.